Japan Decides To Buy American

October 11, 1987

Japan`s decision not to build a home-grown jet fighter for its armed forces and to buy American was a wise one that should help ease growing trade tensions between the two allies.

For nearly a decade, the Japanese defense establishment has been planning an all-Japanese, state-of-the-art tactical support fighter that would fly rings around any American aircraft and help the nation become more self-sufficient in its own protection. The multibillion-dollar order for 100 such fighters also would have been enough to stimulate growth in Japan`s aerospace industry for the rest of the century.

Few who have experienced the quality and technology that the Japanese put into autos and electronics will doubt the Japanese claim that they could, if they put their minds to it, design and build a plane that would leave U.S. jets in their contrails.

American aircraft makers and defense experts, however, urged the Japanese to buy a U.S. plane off the shelf, arguing that it would be comparable in performance and would save them billions of yen.

That economic argument gained strength in light of recent events. Already angered by Japan`s growing trade surplus with the United States, both chambers of Congress passed protectionist trade bills aimed primarily at Japan. Then Toshiba Machine Co. sold militarily useful technology to the Soviet Union. That ignited lawmakers` tempers and seemed to confirm that Japan cynically laps up profits from trade while relying on the U.S. to pay its defense bills. By deciding to buy a ``lightly modified`` version of either the American- built F-15 or the F-16 for his country`s next generation of jet fighters, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Naksone infuriated his defense establishment. But he has moved to strengthen bilateral security and economic ties between the two nations.

Much of the work on the planes will be done in Japan, with the Japanese adding their own radar and electronics systems. But the contract will mean significant business for either McDonnell Douglas Corp., maker of the F-15, or General Dynamics Corp., which produces the F-16. Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, whose state is home to the two U.S. aerospace giants and to much protectionist sentiment, labeled the deal ``a big-ticket item, carrying the potential of a multibillion-dollar shift in our trade balance with Japan.``

Mr. Nakasone goes out of office at the end of this month. It would have been easy for him to give in to the demands of his aerospace industry and leave the damaged relations with the United States to his successor, but he realized the need to heal some wounds.

With this deal, Japan showed that it finally is serious about trying to reduce the $70 billion trade surplus it had with the United States last year and cool the protectionist sentiment in Congress. No need to bash the Japanese on this one.